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Politics & Government

Clawson to Turn Over Animal Control Services to Oakland County

City to hand over licensing and enforcement to the county; saves costs

The Clawson City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to contract with Oakland County to handle the city’s animal control. The city has contracted since 2005 with Troy, which has recently signaled that it also is planning to contract with the Oakland County Animal Control Division.

Clawson Police Chief Harry Anderson said residents should see little change in services, as many stray dogs and some stray cats picked up by Troy Animal Control officers have already been sent to the Oakland County Animal Shelter in Auburn Hills.

“I think once everybody gets on board, I think they will appreciate the level of services the county offers as well as the consistency of services,” Anderson said.

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The county will have one full-time and one part-time animal control officer assigned to the Troy/Clawson area as well as to areas of Madison Heights, Royal Oak and Berkley, if those cities also decide to contract with the county.

The change will require the Clawson to rewrite its animal control ordinances and will require dog owners to purchase an Oakland County license every year, either directly from the county or from the Clawson city clerk’s office.

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Another change will be enforcement, which will he handled by the county and is expected to be more strict.

The county will check records and, beginning in June, will do door-to-door license checks and will hand out violations for dog owners who do not have annual licenses.

Currently, the city issues and enforces licenses. Anderson said the county will have better resources to ensure compliance.

“We will continue to handle the ordinance issues, barking dogs, the number of animals — so from that end, it’s not going to make that much of a difference,” Anderson said.

Mayor Penny Luebs said the contract is a good direction for the city to take, noting that it will save the community $13,000 per year. The city will make a small commission on the license fees.

“Troy is going to Oakland, and we’ll save the $13,000 we’ve been spending with them (Troy),” she said. "But we’ll lose some revenue from the dog licenses.”

While stray and lost dogs will continue to be picked up, cats will not, and if residents can catch or trap a stray cat, the shelter will accept them.

Joanie Toole, administrative supervisor for the Oakland County Animal Control Division, said the county runs a “no-kill” shelter, meaning that any healthy dog or cat can be adopted. Sick or injured animals may be euthanized; however, the county does not adopt out all the cats it takes in throughout the year.

With the change, the city will need to revert to state laws that define animal ordinances and allow the county animal control workers, who are deputized, to enforce those laws – which do not presently require licenses for cats.

“Maybe in the next year or two, we’ll be looking at the state laws to change some of the licensing laws,” Toole said.

The change is expected to take effect in May. Licenses will be available from Dec. 1 until June 1 each year and will cost $7.50 for spayed or neutered dogs and $15 for other dogs. Senior citizens get a 25 percent discount.

After June 2, all dog licenses are considered delinquent and will cost $30.

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